Friday, December 04, 2015

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Telenovela, Flight Before Christmas, The Hateful Eight Soundtrack, The Santa Barbara International Film Festival, In Performance: Christmas Under the Stars, Miraculous, Newtown, Austin City Limits, Major Crimes, Rizzoli & Isles, Outside Television, Gigolos, TruTV, and You're the Worst.

- Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) stars in Telenovala, a big, fun and flashy half-hour comedy as Ana Sofia, the star of a popular Spanish language soap opera. One problem, she doesn't speak any Spanish. Other problems? Ana must manage a new boss, jealous castmates and high-maintenance best friends - and that's all before her ex-husband is hired as her new on-screen love interest. Just like a real telenovela, this comedy is full of all kinds of drama, including love, hate, life and even death! Despite all the chaos, this telenovela's cast and crew is a family... or, at least, they try to be.

- Flight Before Christmas, Saturday at 8:00 on Lifetime. Synopsis: Excited to take the next step in their relationship and move in with her boyfriend, Stephanie is crushed when he drops the bombshell that he wants to break up. Faced with spending the holidays heartbroken and homeless, she decides to fly home to Connecticut. On a red-eye the day before Christmas, Stephanie finds herself seated next to Michael, who is planning to propose to his college girlfriend. The two get off to a rocky start but things get even worse when the pilot announces that a huge, unexpected snowstorm is crossing the country. Their flight is diverted to a small town in Montana where Stephanie snags the last available room at the town’s bed and breakfast. Despite their differences, she offers to share the room with Michael and try their best to get along.

- Quentin Tarantino and Decca Records today announced the release of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight original motion picture soundtrack. The soundtrack will be available for purchase on CD, vinyl, and at digital retail worldwide via Decca Records on December 18, 2015. Third Man Records will also release an exclusive vinyl edition of the soundtrack in the United States. The Double 180 gram LP will include a tri-fold reversible jacket with a soft touch finish, 60"x12" poster, 36"x12" poster, and 12-page booklet insert with stills from the film. The Hateful Eight film will be released on December 25, 2015 screening exclusively in glorious Ultra Panavision 70 mm film and will open wide on January 8, 2016. Pre-order links for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight Original Motion Picture Soundtrack can be found below:DeccaThird Man Records

- The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is proud to present the 2016 Outstanding Performers of the Year award to both Brie Larson and Saoirse Ronan on Monday February 8, SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling announced today. This is the first time the award will be given to two honorees. Both Larson and Ronan had previously been awarded the festival’s Virtuoso Award, in 2014 and 2010 respectively. The duo will be celebrated for their remarkable performances in Room and Brooklyn. The 2016 festival is the 31st year of the festival, which will run February 3 to February 13, 2016. For more information, and to purchase tickets, festival passes and packages, please visit sbiff.org.

- With the Christmas season in full swing, prepare to tune in, this Sunday, with the whole family as Gentri -the Gentleman's Trio- join 13-year old Lexi Mae Walker for a celebration of Christmas music and the true meaning of Christmas. Filmed on location at an old Jerusalem replica set, the one-hour special, In Performance: Christmas Under the Stars, airs on Sunday, December 6 at 5pm MT/7pm ET on BYUtv, and also features The Snow College Chamber Orchestra, The Snow College Cadence Chamber Choir, The American Heritage Youth Chorus, and other musical guests.

- On Sunday, December 6 at noon ET/PT, Nickelodeon will broadcast the premiere episode of the all-new 3D CGI-animated, action-sitcom series, Miraculous. The 26-episode series, which will air every Sunday at noon ET/PT, is owned and produced by ZAG, under its Zag Heroez umbrella. The series tells the story of a charismatic girl who transforms into a courageous, vivacious superhero named Ladybug and saves the day to restore happiness and peace for the citizens of Paris. While making its first appearance in the U.S. this December, Miraculous has already debuted in France and Korea, attaining consistent number one ratings across all kids shows week over week. Series premieres will continue to roll-out globally, in 120+ markets worldwide over the next three months.

- Filmed over the course of nearly three years, the film-makers use unique access and never before heard testimonies to tell a story of the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting of schoolchildren in American history. Newtown documents a traumatized community fractured by grief and driven toward a sense of purpose. Joining the ranks of a growing club to which no one wants to belong, a cast of characters interconnect to weave an intimate story of community resilience. The film will have a national broadcast on PBS in 2016. It will also be screened at additional film festivals, followed by a theatrical release, community and school screenings nationwide along with educational, international and digital distribution.

- The landmark television music series Austin City Limits (ACL) announces the second half of Season 41, with seven brand-new shows to begin airing in January 2016 as part of the program’s fourteen-episode season. ACL has featured some of the most iconic performances in live music for over four decades, and continues with an ever more diverse line-up showcasing the most original and relevant music of today. The program returns on Saturday, January 2nd at 8:00, ringing in the new year with a new installment featuring the return of powerhouse rockers Alabama Shakes and the debut of soul revivalists Vintage Trouble. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings for times) and full episodes are made available online for a limited time at video.pbs.org/ immediately following the initial broadcast. The show's official hashtag is #acltv. Here is the full lineup:

- Television's favorite detectives will be back on the case in February as TNT presents
all-new episodes of the hit series Major Crimes and Rizzoli & Isles. Major Crimes is set to kick off its winter episodes on Monday, Feb. 15, at 9:00, with Mary McDonnell, G.W. Bailey and Tony Denison leading the exceptional ensemble cast. The following day, Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander will return in Rizzoli & Isles, which will start its winter run Tuesday, Feb. 16, with back-to-back episodes beginning at 9:00.

- Outside Television, America’s only television network for people who share a deep passion for the active, adventure lifestyle, is expanding its reach today as it launches on Sony PlayStation Vue. PlayStation Vue is a new cloud-based TV service bringing subscribers live television, movies and sports through the PlayStation platform. With this launch, Outside Television will be available on the Vue platform in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas, and Miami markets. Outside Television is available nationwide through various providers including DISH Network, Comcast XFINITY, Cox Communications, RCN, The National Cable Television Cooperative, CenturyLink PRISM TV and Google Fiber.

- The boys are back in town! The sexy Showtimes unscripted series Gigolos returns with eight half-hour episodes on Thursday, March 17th at 11:00. The Gigolos are heading back to Las Vegas to spotlight the sultry, salacious antics of fan favorites: Nick, Brace, Vin, Ash and Bradley (and Guerin, their booker). For a sneak peek at the new season, go to YouTube.

- Placing an even bigger bet on the scripted arena, truTV has ordered a second season of its first scripted series Those Who Can’t three months in advance of the show’s launch – an unprecedented move for the network. In addition, truTV has also ordered two pilots and a pilot script from several established comedic talents, including Dean Lorey (Arrested Development, The Crazy Ones), comedian Tom Segura and also Melissa Hunter (Adult Wednesday Addams). This flurry of scripted activity comes as truTV celebrates momentum on the first anniversary of its “Way More Fun” branding.

- FXX has ordered a third season of the critically-acclaimed comedy You’re the Worst from Creator and Executive Producer Stephen Falk, who has reached an overall deal to develop and produce projects for FX Networks and FX Productions, it was announced today by Nick Grad and Eric Schrier, Presidents of Original Programming for FX Networks and FX Productions. The third season of You’re the Worst will air on FXX in summer 2016. The multi-year overall deal will enable Falk to write, develop and produce television projects for FX Networks and FX Productions.

Monday, November 30, 2015

ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas, cable’s biggest programming event of the year, returns with 25 continuous days of holiday-themed entertainment for the whole family. From December 1 – 25, viewers can ring in the holidays with holiday specials, classic holiday movies, and returning favorites. ABC Family is becoming Freeform in January 2016.

This year, 25 Days of Christmas will feature classic Jim Henson Christmas specials The Bells of Fraggle Rock and Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, which have been remastered and are returning to television after several years. Additionally, December 13 features a marathon of Disney∙Pixar’s Toy Story films. Also, the network will air Beyond the Shadows: The Making of Shadowhunters, which gives an inside look at the upcoming saga series.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Do you believe in highly unlikelys!?! One of the boring white dudes finally went home!!!!! Okay it was not Braiden, Zach, or even Barrett who gave the most embarrassingly bad performance of the week, but hey, you got to start somewhere. I actually thought Shelby would find her way to the bottom but surprisingly the country voting block still voted her through despite a disastrous Lady Gaga performance. Oh no, the finals is going to be Jordan an three country singers isn't it? Amy might want to save her best song left in her chamber for the semi-finals because she will probably need another top 10 finish to make the finals. As for my Power Rankings, there is still four groups but there was some shuffling this week as a bunch of people moved out of their groups as there was a mass exodus from the Boring But Acceptable into the newly named bottom group. But on the brighter side, someone actually joined the Top of the Crop level.

The Top of the Crop

1. Madi Davis (Up 1): Where the heck did that come from? I thought she was in the Amy lane of coffee house type singers when she was doing soft Laurel Canyon songs early in the season. Then out of nowhere this week she just starts wailing away like some diva singer (as someone wiser than me pointed out) singing a James Bond Theme sounding song. I do not know why her song did not sit along Amy in the Top 10 this week. Madi's problem may be she is the type of artist that gets better with each listen. I remember liking it when I watched it live but thought it needed a slower build. But upon another listen you just start to her the little intricacies and keep hear something new with every repeat.

2. Amy Vachal (Down 1): After how great and retaliatory Hotline Bling was last week I feared there would be a let down this week (I feared Adam would try Trap Queen next). But instead they went in a completely different from a moody and seductive song last week to a fun and flirty version of a Taylor Swift song and it was just as great. The only thing the two performances had in common beside being great was the the reappearance of the upright bass. I have been resigned to an all boring white dude finale but I am starting to think Amy can sneak in. Hopefully she has another top ten finish in her for the semi-finals. Really the only complaints I have about Amy this week was I spent most of the time during the Team Adam performance thinking, if Amy done this herself that would have been another top 10 hit. I was also disappointed she was saved first. I know it would have ruined the suspense (talking about ruining the suspense, oh Carson and his oops) to have the iTunes leader be saved last but they really could have brought her out in the outfit more than twice. Oh my.

3. Emily Ann Roberts (up 1): Had I grouped the singers every round, Emily Ann would have spent ever round in the Boring But Acceptable group. But this week she basically gave a country version of Amy's performance, simple and fun (although Emily Ann threw in some weird crazy eyed looks throughout the performance that threw me off a little). Fun used to be a death nail on this show as voter prefer big belters singing power ballads so it was nice to see two fun songs crack the top 10 on iTunes this week. In a season with an overabundance of boring white dudes, it would be nice if the finals ends up being Jordan with these three ladies above. But if Barrett and Zach already overcame Emily Ann's iTunes bonus once this season, I fear they probably had more votes this week too and will push one if not two of the girls out of the finals. Jordan and three country singers will probably be more likely than Jordan and three chicks.

The Boring but Acceptable

4. Jordan Smith (down 1): His weakest performance of the season still made the top ten. The guy could sing a nursery rhyme next week and still stroll into the semi-finals next week.

The Lucky There Was a Format Change

5. Korin Bukowski (up three): Finally someone cool enough to sing a Mandy Moore song on The Voice. Except it was not one of her cool late period songs but the sappy obscure one from A Walk to Remember. Not a very good sign of her escaping the Bottom Two again next week when she sings a kind of religious song and still finds herself in danger of getting eliminated. On the bright side, Pharrell still has one singer left for her to send home. Oh no, that is probably not going to happen because there will not be two boring white dudes in the bottom two weeks in a row and of course all the country artists will advance no matter how bad they are (and three were really bad this week). Hopefully the show manipulates things next week to help Madi (and more important to them, make sure Pharrell has someone to make it to the semi-finals). Maybe they will finally give a girl the Pimp Slot next week. Madi deserved it more than what they actually ended the show on.

The Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) Group

6. Jeffery Austin (down 1): Last week I pondered if the reason he has only sung British Blue Eyed Neo Soul music was because that is all he could do. After this week the answer is a resounding yes. Not as big a waste of the Pimp Slot as last week but there were better ways they could have ended the show this week.

7. Shelby Brown (even): What a horrible song choice. It seems clear Adam wants her gone so he can focus on Amy and Jordan. So wait for Adam's meltdown if Shelby outlasts them, it will probably be worse than his "I hate this country" moment after Amber Carrington got saved instead of Judith Hill and Sarah Simmons.

8. Zach Seabaugh (up two): I cannot believe his performance made it into the top thirty on iTunes.

9. Barrett Baber (down 4): Somehow Barrett did even worse than Zach yet still managed to chart higher than Zach. I hate this country... voters who watch this show and blindly vote for every country singer no matter how bad they are.